Replica gun terror at skate park

A youth who threatened another young man with a realistic-looking gun in a skateboard park has been put behind bars for nine months.

A court heard that the incident happened in Coronation Park in Ormskirk on the afternoon of March 30 this year and the 18-year-old victim, Michael Kime, was left shaken by the incident.

If I see you again I am going to ****ing cap you

The hearing was told that the culprit, Jake Addison, actually believed the weapon to be genuine, making his threats all the more frightening.

Addison denied to the police that he had been at the park but when CCTV footage was examined it showed that he was there.

After he was sentenced to an immediate term of detention his mother and other relatives and friends, who had been sitting in the public gallery, left the court in tears and were shouting their disbelief. Graham Pickavance, prosecuting, told the hearing that while Mr Kime was at the park a friend he was with, Kate Jones, received a phone call from Addison saying that he had a gun and was coming to the skateboard park “to have Mike”.

“Shortly afterwards the defendant and another male approached and Mr Kime walked away.

“But the defendant changed direction and followed him.

“He went up to Michael Kime and pointed a black hand gun at him.

“He said to him, “If I see you again I am going to ****ing cap you.”

“He then walked away,” said Mr Pickavance.

Just after midnight, police went to Addison’s home in Skelmersdale to arrest him and found on his bed a Webley replica handgun.

His mobile phone was examined and on it was a video of him talking about cleaning the weapon and saying that he thought it was real and so he would be able to sell it for £600.

The 18-year-old, of Durham Street, Skelmersdale, pleaded guilty at Liverpool Crown Court to possessing an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence.

Michael Hagerty, defending, said that Addison had had no previous convictions and was genuinely remorseful for what he had done.

Mr Hagerty said that the teenager has considerable problems including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), anorexia, learning difficulties, autism and genetic kidney problems that mean he will ultimately need a transplant.

“He finds it difficult to understand the world in the way others do and would not have been able to consider the consequences of having the gun,” said Mr Hagerty.